i want to thank president obama for his nomination of chuck hagel to be secretary of defense. while we were home last week, i had the opportunity to watch the senate confirmation hearing, and i was dismayed by the way many of the republicans on that hearing chastised mr. hagel. mr. hagel is a man of integrity. i -- the question from one of the senators about, do you think the surge worked, and senator hagel was such he didn't want to give him a direct answer. i would have said no, it didn't work. 1,200 americans killed. i don't know how many iraqis. look at the country today. it is totally falling apart. that was a question towards senator hagel. . the iraq war was very unnecessary. it was manufactured by the previous administration, and there was a marine general, greg newbold, who actually wrote an article in "time" after the war started and one of the points he made that i'm going to share with you, mr. speaker, is some of the missteps included the distortion of intelligence in the buildup to the war. the distortion of intelligence in the buildup to the war. in the history